A game after being yanked following a questionable performance and giving way to Tommy Rees, Notre Dame's first-year starter, Everett Golson, finally got the Irish offense running the way folks expected him to.

Golson threw the ball, ran the ball and the entire Notre Dame Fighting Irish offense just looked in sync for the first time this season.

After a "suspension" that lasted a series, Golson would enter the Shamrock Series game, and he would not be pulled this time. There would be no benching for Tommy Rees to get the Irish the win. Rather, we saw a calm, collected Golson go out there and finally command the offense.

Things started slow for the Irish. They were only up 13-3 at halftime; however, the sophomore from Myrtle Beach would open things up as the game progressed. The offensive line came to play, opening up rushing lanes to the tune of 376 yards on the ground.

Cierre Wood and George Atkinson III both topped the 100-yard mark, as the ground game finally got going.

While the running backs put up the big numbers, it was quarterback Everett Golson who really came into his own.

He got reacquainted with tight end Tyler Eifert, completed 77 percent of his passes and looked comfortable running the football for 51 yards.

No, he didn't account for any touchdowns, but he put the Irish in position to score—and score they did, beating Miami 41-3.

We're now starting to see the offense advance to the next level. The dynamism at the quarterback spot gives Brian Kelly more options, from roll-out passes and bootlegs to options and zone reads.

No, Golson isn't a guy who wants to run for 1,000 yards on the season, but he has the ability to put defenses in bad positions. That makes the Irish better.

With Stanford and its stout defense coming to town next weekend, this is the game that Golson needed.

His performance thus far was far from confidence-inspiring...until Saturday night. The Fighting Irish are going to be moving up in the Top 10, and after this convincing win in Chicago, they finally seem to have found their quarterback.